This invention relates to a sterility guard for piercing devices or connectors such as are used in the medical and surgical fields and more particularly to a sterility guard which gives positive indication if the same has been removed from the piercing device or other connector and subsequently replaced.
In the prior art various caps or guards have been employed to protect the sterility of blood spikes or similar piercing devices and also connectors of various kinds. In some of these prior art proposals, if the sterility guard or other protective device is removed accidentally or for one reason or another, it may merely be replaced and there is no indication that the piercing device or a similar member has been exposed to contamination and may no longer be sterile.
In some prior art devices of this general type attempts have been made to protect the sterility of guards or connectors of the type here under consideration against the possibility of contamination by early removal and replacement of the guard. Some of these devices are in the form of adhesive tape wound about the joint between the guard and the piercing device or connector. Among others are shrink bands and heat seals between the guard and the device. All of these devices are awkward and are expensive and not foolproof in use and do not insure positively against undetectable replacement.